


there is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures

by WyvernWhisperer



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16915926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyvernWhisperer/pseuds/WyvernWhisperer
Summary: Anne's birthday has come up and she is excited to finally find out who her kindred spirit is by process of that person's initials appearing on her wrist.





	there is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures

ANNE 

 

“Isn’t it exciting, Marilla? That tomorrow, on my fifteenth birthday, I shall know the initials of my  _ true, one and only kindred spirit?  _ I shall die of waiting!” Anne began to dance around her room in her undergarments, nearly knocking down the lantern by her bedside. “Do watch your feet, Anne, and get in your nightgown. God Almighty forbid you lose energy for tomorrow. It’ll be quite a busy day, with your friends all coming over for a picnic.” Marilla was smiling, but her tone was stern. 

 

Anne went under her covers, but could not help keeping her eyes open. She began to stare at her wrist until she fell asleep. Tomorrow, she would see the initials of her forever kindred spirit on it, as had happened to Diana on her birthday and Ruby on hers. Ruby, unfortunately, did  _ not  _ have Gilbert Blythe’s initials on her wrist. It took her quite the while to live it down, but she did begin to accept that a certain R.A. would be her kindred spirit, or as she preferred to call it, her soul mate. Anne knew no R.A.s, but she had wished the best for Ruby and her future. 

 

That night, Anne slept full of excitement, without the tiniest indication of the surprise in the morning to come. 

 

The sun shone brightly through the window, illuminating Anne’s fiery red hair. She kept her eyes away from her wrist, as not to spoil the initials too early. She wanted Matthew and Marilla to see it with her at the same time; she felt that, as her legal guardians and belovedly wonderful family, this moment was as important to them as it was to her. 

 

“Matthew! Marilla!” she called out, running down the stairs as fast as her feet could take her. “Today’s the day!” Marilla was disappointed to see that Anne’s hair was uncombed and she hadn’t changed out of her nightgown yet. But, seeing how important this moment was for Anne, she decided it could wait. “Well, Anne, let’s have a see,” she said with a warm smile. 

 

Anne peered down at her wrist. First, a burst of excitement. And then, a sudden worry. “Ruby will  _ kill me,”  _ she whispered to herself as she tried to quickly erase the initials from her wrist. “What ever is the matter, Anne?” asked Marilla with a worried expression, though she had been trying her best not to smile as not to trigger Anne’s fiery temper. She had known what the young girl was thinking the moment the letters  _ G.B.  _ appeared on her wrist. It couldn’t possibly be Gilbert Blythe, could it?  _ My,  _ thought Marilla,  _ what a humorous couple those two would make.  _ And after a bit more thinking- _ Can’t say I wouldn’t want it to happen.  _

 

“Marilla, you  _ have  _ to help me cover my wrist. Ruby  _ cannot  _ see this!” Anne hurriedly grabbed a washcloth and began scrubbing and scratching her skin as though that would erase a  _ permanent lifemark.  _  Marilla, for the first time in many,  _ many  _ years let out a laugh. “Marilla!” exclaimed Anne. “As joyful as I am to hear your beautiful laughter, this is not humorous one bit! Ruby shall have my head once she sees this!” 

 

“Is Ruby really your concern right now, Anne?” asked Matthew, who had remained silent until then. “Does it not concern you  _ who  _ might truly be your soulmate?” Anne stopped in her tracks, dead silent. Her eyes went wide and her entire body stiffened. “It-it  _ cannot  _ be  _ Gilbert Blythe,  _ no, it simply cannot! It must be some faraway prince named George Bernard or a poor peddler named Geremy Bolivia! It cannot be Gil-! He is my lifelong archnemesis, he cannot be-” she scoffed-”my  _ one true kindred spirit! _ It’s quite mad! Quite!” 

 

It was Matthew’s turn to laugh, though it came out as a course chuckle. “Hurry on to school, Anne, and Matthew and I will stay here with Jerry to finish the chores. The sooner you get home, the sooner we can prepare for the small get together,” said Marilla as she handed Anne her books. Unlike herself, Anne quietly left home. 

 

Anne met Diana halfway to the schoolhouse, and began to rant all her worries away. “He might be handsome and kind and smart, but I’d rather be dead than have his initials on my skin.” Diana was the third person to laugh at her that day. “Handsome and kind and smart,” Diana mimicked. “Shall we add devastatingly attractive? Extremely, swooningly, strikingly gorgeous? It seems to me you’re just in denial, Anne.” 

 

“Diana, how could you! My bestest friend, dare jest about  _ this-  _ this quandary? Beloved Diana, I need your  _ help,  _ not your humor! Not now, at least.” Anne was at her wits’ end! How could people take such lightly of her conundrum! Absolutely absurd!  

 

“Forgive me, Anne,” said Diana, though she was still in a fit of laughter, “but I do think you are overreacting quite a bit. Gilbert hasn’t even celebrated his birthday yet.” 

 

Anne began to calm herself. “You’re right!” She hugged Diana. “Absolutely correct! How can I be sure G.B. stands for Gilbert Blythe! Poppycock is what it is, and Gilbert and I most certainly are not kindred spirits. Nope. Never going to happen.” 

 

***

 

That afternoon, Anne was met with a few gifts from her close friends and family; the Cuthberts got her a new dress, Jerry wrote her a card (this time spelling Anne with an E), Diana a beautiful hairbrush, Ruby a story she had been working on about Princess Cordelia and Prince Wisteria, Cole a sculpture of her red and black fox, and Bash got her a new spice to cook with.

 

Anne had always been avoiding Gilbert, but ever since R.A. made its appearance on Ruby, they had been permitted to acquaint themselves with each other, and acquaint they did. So, for Anne to keep her distance once again, it was quite odd for Gilbert and was not longer something he was used to. 

 

“What’s up with her?” Gilbert had said to Bash that afternoon. “She’s been avoiding me all day.” 

 

“I bet you your initials are on her skin,” replied Bash. “No other way she be hiding her wrist. Being very obvious about it, actually.” Anne was, in fact, very obvious about hiding the initials. After Ruby had cried in the morning at school, Anne wrapped a ribbon around her wrist and didn’t talk about kindred spirits  _ once  _ that day. 

 

“Can’t be. She wouldn’t let me come here if I was her soulmate,” replied Gilbert, but his ears were rather red anyway. Laughing, Bash said, “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.” 

 

Gilbert then approached Matthew and Marilla. “Mr. Cuthbert? May I ask whose initials are on Anne’s wrist?” he questioned, and Marilla couldn’t help but smile. “Well, uh,” Matthew began to say. “What were the letters, Marilla? G.B.?” he asked. Marilla nodded, and Gilbert was almost in shock. He truly, really wished those letters stood for Gilbert Blythe, but he’d never admit it to anyone, not even to himself. “Thank you, Mr. Cuthbert. That G.B. sure will be a lucky man, huh?” Matthew nodded with a smile. 

 

Sitting next to Anne, Gilbert leaned towards her--to tease her or to please himself, he didn’t know. “So you’re fifteen now.” 

 

“So?” she replied defensively. He was sure she was glaring at him. “And I have a present for you? What’s wrong, Anne? You seem to have been avoiding me all day.” 

 

“Yes, well, I- I mean, no, I haven’t!”

 

“Yes, you have.” 

 

“Haven’t!”

 

“Have.”

 

“Don’t argue with me on my birthday!” 

 

“Alright, well, here’s your birthday gift.” He placed a little parcel in Anne’s hands and turned away from her. With faux confidence, he said,  “May G.B. kiss your cheek? To wish you a happy birthday.” 

 

“What?”  She stared at him in surprise. Laughing awkwardly, she said, “G.B. who?” She fiddled with the parcel in her hands. “This one.” He pointed at himself.  

 

Anne gulped, kissed Gilbert’s cheek and stared at him as long as he stared at her.

 

“No, you may not.” 

 

GILBERT 

 

“It’s her,” Gilbert whispered to himself as he stared wistfully at his wrist, which said, A.S.C. There was no other A.S.C. around. It  _ had _ to be Anne, it had to! 

 

Gilbert was a lot more chipper that day, to Bash’s great amusement. “Happy fifteenth, Blythe,” he greeted. “Happy indeed,” agreed Gilbert with a bright grin. 

 

***

 

She ran. And ran. And  _ ran _ . It was five in the morning, and the sun had just risen. She knocked Gilbert’s door quite loudly, ignoring the fact that no rooster had crowed yet. 

 

Gilbert opened the door, surprised to see Anne on the other side of it. “Hello, Anne.” He waved at her, his wrist exposed. She happened to notice that it said A.S.C. Perhaps it was the butterflies in her stomach or her imagination acting up, so she had to grab his wrist and trace out the letters herself. She had not realized that doing so turned Gilbert’s ears the same color as her hair. “We’re kindred spirits!” she said excitedly, no longer in denial. He grinned and hugged her without thinking, swaying her about. 

 

“May A.S.C. give you your birthday present now?” she had asked. He kissed her cheek. “She just did.” 


End file.
